The Tyrant is power hungry, and usually without conscience. Don't interfere with his journey to power or you will be sorry. He is a ruthless bully, above society's grasp of human compassion.
In the 1991 film rendition of Robin Hood, actor Alan Rickman did a fantastic job of portraying this archetype. With King Richard off on the Crusades, Nottingham showed no mercy while attempting to bring down Locksley and steal the crown of England for himself. He stopped at nothing to get what he wanted, and that included Locksley's love, Maid Marian. In the end, his obsession with power cost him his life.
Another notable Tyrant, Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series possesses an unquenchable thirst for power. Voldemort and his supporters, the Death Eaters, set out to overthrow the Ministry of Magic and take over completely, putting Voldemort in the seat of power. Without morals, without conscience, Voldemort will destroy anyone who stands against him. Anyone. Even school children.
Another shining example of tyranny is The Emperor (Sith Lord Darth Sidious) from the Star Wars series. This guy doesn't even blink at blowing up an entire PLANET as he strives for domination. But in the end, love conquered even the darkest forces in the universe when Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) turned away from the dark side and killed Sidious to save his son Luke. Go Jedi!
But why stop at the human race when examining the Tyrant archetype? (Just for fun! What Tyrant character springs to mind as having made your blood boil? Can't wait to hear from you.
Best,
Tracy Preston
7 comments:
Villians are often thought more interesting than heroes. Villians usually are more complex than heroes. Evil has more dramatic facets than goodness. I think the enduring fascination of the Bad Boy hero for many is that he has elements of both good and bad. he could be a villian with a shove in that direction.
That said, I find that the scariest vilians are those whose villiany is not apparent. The villian who looks like a saint or, at most, a bad boy, can be the source of more horror than the villian who proclaims his purpose as world domination.
Tracy:
Very good blog!!
I'm thinking- thinking- thinking- What about Adolph Hitler, Napoleon Bonapart, Sadaam Husain and all the other tyrants that dominate history. They have an incideous way of brainwashing people into their way of thinking then turning violent and ruling through fear rather than loyalty.
Just my two cents,
Teresa
Teresa,
I totally thought of Napoleon, especially since I've been doing a lot of research lately on the Napoleonic Wars. But I tried not to use any real people -- even though there is a surprising number of real life tyrants in history.
RegencyResearcher,
I agree. Villains are extremely interesting. And when it comes to the bad boy, I am such a sucker for one! And it probably has everything to do with him riding the fence between good and evil. He can be dangerous when provoked, and that is sexy to women (or at least it is to me).
Thanks for commenting!
Tracy
I have to agree with RegencyResearcher. I LOVED Alan Rickman in Robin Hood for the simple fact that he's soo much better than Kevin Costner. (In anything, let's face it.) But we see a lot more of him throughout the movie. Same with Harry Potter. The kid that torments Harry through the books (can't remember his name) is so much more interesting in the books, one of the reasons I stopped reading them.
It's also a reason I enjoy the bad boy heros. Complexity!
Excellent post, Tracy, thanks!
Loved Mr. Tinkles. He struck fear in my heart.
Can anyone ever forget Jack Nicholson's line, "Here's Johnny!).
Though provoking post!
Mr Tinkles was the best thing in "Cats & Dogs" - in my opinion an unusally dark character for what was essentially a fluffy (no pun intended) family flick.
(PS: CATS RULE!)
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